Once bitten, Twice shy
by pixel's puzzle
Summary: Dick has no problem with tigers. Really. He just has a healthy respect for their power. A one-shot piece with a reflective moment between Dick and Gar. Based on 1x05 from the series Titans, it takes some liberties with the show and Dick's backstory. Hinted relationship between Dick and Kory, Rachel and Gar. Rated T for language.


Dick never thought he would be in this situation again. He had long left the Titans, and more recently he had hung up his cape. No more Robin. Detective Grayson was enough. Detective Grayson could solve cases through the law, not outside it. Detective Grayson would be held accountable for the safety and wellbeing of the suspect, who would be appointed a lawyer and ensured a fair trial. Not interrogated by snapping all the fingers on their hand, one by one. Not dangling them over the side of the building until they wept, screamed, and pleaded their guilt. And ultimately, it was the court who would decide, should the defendant be found guilty, of the appropriate sentence. Not Robin. Not anymore.

Or so he thought. Dick stifled a groan and pressed his palm to his temple, where a migraine was beginning to flare up. How had he managed to get in this situation, sitting on the edge of a disgusting bed in crappy motel room with a roomful of super-powered misfits who were looking at him as if he was some sort of leader? Much as he was loath to admit it, Dick was the best leader they had. And they clearly needed a leader.

Ever since the strange, gothic-looking teenage girl walked into Dick's life and calmly told him the circumstances of his parents' deaths, events she had no way of knowing, events that happened before she was born, probably, Dick had known this little sham of a life he had set up for himself was over. Somehow along the way he had picked up a green-haired teenaged boy and an amnesic alien. Both of whom, apparently, had superpowers. And at least one of them, Rachel, appeared to be the target of some pretty powerful people. Perhaps some of the others, as well. Dick doubted that Gar had made enemies, but he wouldn't put it past Kory, who was seemed as deadly and mysterious as she was beautiful.

"Dick?" Rachel's voice pierced though his thoughts, and with the mental fortitude ingrained in him through years of work as Batman's protégé, Dick compartmentalized his thoughts, shoving away his headache and memories and drawing his attention to the problem at hand.

"Right. Anyways, I thought we should consider ourselves allies," he said, easily regaining his train of thought from earlier. "At least for the time being. Fighting the same battle."

"Which is?" Kory pressed, somewhat aggressively. Out of all of them, she was the most skeptical. Rachel, for whatever reason, seemed to trust Dick implicitly, and Gar seemed content to go along with the group. Kory, on the other hand, had a blank slate where her memories should be, making her wary of every situation.

"To stay alive." Dick frowned and looked over his ragtag band. "To do that, we need to have a better understanding of each other, and our capabilities. Know our weaknesses and our strengths. That way we won't be running in blind. We'll be able to support each other better. That way, next time they come for us, we'll be ready."

Gar watched him, brown eyes wide. "So, like, are we a team now?"

Rachel nudged him playfully. "Weren't you listening to what Dick just said? We're allies." She deepened her voice slightly, in an imitation of Dick's. "Our mission: to stay alive." She grinned at Gar, who returned it with a somewhat infatuated gaze, then shot a quick, slightly apologetic smile at Dick.

_Teenagers. _At least last time Dick had to deal with teenagers, he had been one himself. Well, sort of. He had never really had a proper childhood, and that included his teenage years.

"Anyways…" Dick moved the subject along.

It was agreed that they would all meet up again in Dick's room in an hour and a half. Kory went off to shower and the kids to chat or flirt or whatever it is kids do these days. _God, I sound like an old man,_ Dick thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. He himself planned to go find an area for training, somewhere discrete but roomy enough for whatever powers they had to showcase. He thought he'd seen an old barn off the road on the way into town that might serve such a purpose.

A little less than two hours later found them standing under the dilapidated roof of the old barn. The location was ideal as it got- wide and high-ceilinged, fairly far removed from a rarely traversed road. Dick was pretty sure the barn had long been abandoned, and any damage caused by what they were about to do today could most likely be blamed on the building's weakening structure.

"Alright then," Dick said, feeling slightly awkward at his newfound position as the unofficial leader of this strange group. "First, let's have a demonstration of our abilities, so that we can really see what each other is capable of. Any volunteers?"

Gar fidgeted nervously, hands thrust in the pocket of his jeans. Rachel started at him and said nothing. Kory played with her vibrant pink hair and subtly avoided eye contact.

Dick wasn't surprised by their reactions, but it wasn't a good sign. To be an effective team, there had to be some mutual trust. It was clear the trust wasn't there yet. That was his job, as team leader, to build that trust. Dick settled his gaze on Kory.

"Kory."

She blinked her deep green eyes at him and made a bit of a grimace.

"Rachel said you can create light, heat. Is that right?"

Kory looked agitated. "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure it out."

"Okay, so let's figure it out together," Dick responded calmly. _Remind them that we're a team._ "What can you tell us about it?"

Kory bit her lip. "Umm, my power comes from the sun, I think. I can absorb its power and direct it…I'm weaker at night, though. Um, sometimes empty."

Dick nodded, absorbing this information. He gently pushed her for more details, before asking for a display of her powers.

Kory's hesitation disappeared with his request for her to hit the old tractor at the other end of the barn with her powers.

"Watch," she said coolly, striding forward. Gar's eyes sparkled in anticipation, and Rachel, who had already seen her powers once, set her jaw into a knowing smile.

As Kory's power began to emerge, Dick thought he had never seen such a breathtaking sight in his life. Kory stood, feet set wide, arms slowly stretching out from her sides as she began to _glow_, like coals in a fire, starting with her head and spreading through her body. Then, suddenly, she threw her hand forward, sending a wave of fire and light at the tractor, burning a massive hole into its side.

Having reduced the tractor to a charred piece of scrap metal Kory turned and sauntered back to them, flipping her hair away from her face, claiming the need for more practice, all the while enjoying the look of Dick's only somewhat concealed astonishment.

Gar laughed and high-fived Kory, then pulled back, startled, from the contact with Kory's still smoldering hand.

Dick, feeling vaguely irritated that Kory had broken through his usually stoic exterior, turned to Gar and raised an eyebrow. "You're next."

"Ah, ok…" Gar jogged forward, a bundle of nervous energy. "Gimme a sec…"

Dick waited somewhat impatiently as Gar stretched out a bit. The only one who had actually seen his powers was Rachel, so Dick wasn't sure what to expect. Judging from the things Gar and Rachel had mentioned, it appeared to be some form of transformation.

"Anytime today would be good, Gar," Dick said.

"Uh…" Gar looked a bit uncomfortable. "It's a…it's a little weird with you guys watching and all…the first time I transformed, I tore through my clothes, and uh." Rachel sniggered. "Well, this is my favorite jacket."

This just kept getting stranger. "Hold on," Dick said, exasperated, "You have to be naked to b…"

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," Gar cut in. "I promise."

Ignoring Kory's lofty "Heard that before", Dick and the others obligingly turned their backs on him, leaving him to do…_whatever_ it was.

It had only been a few seconds, probably, but Dick's active mind had already begun to wander when he heard it. An earth-shattering roar tore through the quiet, causing Dick to jump backwards, even as he turned to face the threat.

Slinking out from a bale of hay was a tiger, smooth muscles rippling below its stripy, albeit green fur.

"Oh, shi…" Dick barely whispered, as he subconsciously backed up, putting distance between himself and the beast. His heart clenched in fear as terror took hold of him, the desperate kind that goes beyond logical reasoning.

His brain buzzed with white noise and for a minute he couldn't take hear anything. Panic. He was panicking. _Shit, Grayson, keep it together_.

Next to him, Kory was saying something. Wait, was she _laughing_? Didn't she sense the imminent danger they were all in? Dick's hearing clicked back in. "…was worth it."

Dick stared at the tiger, terrified of breaking eye contact, and managed to gasp out "That's him?"

Rachel nodded smugly. "I know, right?"

"How?" Dick demanded.

Rachel shrugged. "Got sick or something…"

"The flu turned him into a tiger?"

The rest of the conversation was again lost to Dick as he watched the tiger's movements. The creature was pacing, leaping down from the bale of hay to the floor in front of them.

_That's Gar, that's Gar, it's not a real tiger, not really, that's Gar._

"Okay, you can turn back now…into Gar!" Dick instructed, working hard to keep his voice its usual octave.

There was a chilling moment when the tiger did nothing and Dick was seized with the irrational fear, _maybe this really was a real tiger…somehow it got in…it already tore Gar apart, and was coming for them next…_

Then the moment was over, and with some truly unsettling twisting, snapping, and popping sounds, the tiger morphed back into the green-headed teen, skin still slightly tinged with green and standing proudly before them, buck-naked.

The levity of the situation helped bring Dick back to his senses, but the fear remained, a deep pit in his stomach. The rest of the day passed in a haze for Dick. Even Rachel's demonstration of her dark power and her subsequent failure to control it did not disturb Dick as much as Gar's ability.

Later that evening, the motel's lukewarm shower water streaming off his back, Dick still couldn't shake the unsettling feeling. Yellow eyes watching him as he toweled off. Hot breath on the back of his neck as he brushed his teeth. Soft snarls spilling from the darkest corners of the room. Dick couldn't recall the last time he had felt so shaken. Hell, even Bruce didn't know about this fear of his- and why should he? It wasn't like they frequently encountered tigers in their line of work. No, this fear originated from before that, starting back in his days at the circus.

Dick had somehow drifted off to sleep, despite being confident he wouldn't be able to. But his dreams were dark, disturbed, filled with screams and the sound of flesh being torn. Gaudy circus colors whirled around him, faces swirled before him. Pieces of memories glued together things he knows didn't belong there. He was sure, among the faces, he saw the sickly white painted face of the Joker…and the yellow eyes, the hot breath of the tiger again…

He wasn't sure what woke him up, but something did, making him bolt up straight in his bed, his hands clenched tightly in the itchy sheets, which were stained with sweat…

"Dick…Hey, you okay, man?"

Dick peered groggily in the direction of the voice. Gar stood just in front of the door, apparently having let himself into Dick's room. His face looked paler than usual against the green of his hair. _Green fur._ _Hot breath. Yellow eyes. Throaty growls, lips peeling back to expose fangs…no!_

Dick shook himself, trying to clear his head of the last vestiges of his dream, his memories.

"Wow…guess you really were freaked out by it today."

Dick looked up to see Gar striding across the room to him. Dick resisted the urge to flinch away from the boy, but somehow he thinks Gar noticed the impulse. His eyes were way too understanding.

Dick saw no use in denying it. "I'm that obvious, huh?"

Gar perched himself on the edge of the bed. "Nah. Not really. If it were anybody else, we would never have noticed. It's just that you're usually so calm and stuff, y'know? That's why we noticed something was up."

Dick hadn't missed the "we"_._ He groaned internally. "So, Kory and Rachel know too?"_ Of course they did. _There was nothing that Gar knew that Rachel didn't, and Kory wasn't exactly slow on the uptake.

Gar looked hesitant. "Well, no one actually _knows_ anything, man…but I mean, if you wanna talk about it…"

Dick almost laughed. He would never have guessed in a million years he would be offered counseling from some teenaged kid. Especially a mutated teenage kid with the power to turn into the stuff of Dick's nightmares. Dick opened his mouth to gently brush him off, but it was as if some part of himself said _to hell with it_. It wouldn't do any harm to tell him, not when they already suspected something. Besides, for all that Dick tried to build trust among his teammates, he himself was the master of keeping secrets. Another side effect from being raised by Batman, he supposed.

He fiddled with the blankets, idly glancing down at his calloused fingers. He wasn't sure how to begin.

"When I was a kid, I was part of a circus…" Dick glanced over at Gar, whose face showed mild surprise. So, Rachel hadn't told him about that. "You can probably guess where this is going…"

"What part of the circus were you in?" Gar blurted out, curiosity getting the better of restraint. Dick smiled.

"I was an acrobat. My parents were, too. We had a whole family act together…" Dick trailed off. He didn't particularly want to share that memory. "Anyways, the circus had a whole number of acts…jugglers, contortionists, clowns and all. We also had animals. Not many. But one of the animals we did have was a tiger."

Dick paused here, and involuntarily shuddered with the memory of it. Gar gazed intently at Dick, eyes never wavering.

"When I was a kid, I was obsessed with that tiger…I used to sneak in to try to see it, even when its handler kept shooing me away. Well, you know, I was a little kid, I thought all animals were cool, but especially that tiger."

Dick's father had warned him more than once to be careful of the tiger. "That tiger is a wild animal. The handler may have tamed it, but it is not domesticated. Its natural instincts are to hunt, and if it feels threatened, it will act in self-preservation." Dick knew his parents did not approve of the circus' inclusion of a tiger act, but it couldn't be denied that it brought in a great deal of money.

Still, Dick had remained fascinated by the tiger. The power in its muscles, the casual grace with which it loped about the stage, leaped through the hoops. His drawings and scribbles nearly always featured tigers.

"It was just another day…just another show…I don't know what made him turn…none of us did," He swallowed. "But I saw it very clearly. I was getting ready to go on, soon, we were the next act…it happened right in front of our eyes. One minute everything was going fine, then the next…he was attacking the trainer." Dick couldn't continue. He had been young, very young when it happened. Seven years old, in fact.

Gar's eyes shone. There was a long pause.

"…There was a panic. People screaming, trampling over each other to get out. Some people tried to get to him, of course. But no one seemed to know how to stop it. How to save that man."

Gar was no longer looking at him. "And then?"

"And then…the next day, we were all over the news. We were sure our circus would be shut down for good. The trainer was the only casualty, but the tiger…the tiger ran away. It was weeks before they found it. Shot it, I guess."

There was another long silence. Then-

"I saw it leave. It walked right by me. Didn't even run. I had run into the back, to, to hide." Dick blinked back tears he hadn't even know had come to his eyes. "It's amazing, but in all the commotion, people actually managed to lose track of a _tiger_. It came through the back. I was hiding behind some crates, but I knew _it_ knew I was there…I thought for sure I was gonna die…but it just kinda slinked past me. I think it was a bit dazed, too. It just wanted out of there. I could have touched it…if I reached out my hand, I would have felt its fur, I was that close."

Dick sighed, heavily. "Believe it or not, the circus made it. It helped that it happened while we were overseas. If the audience had been American, I am sure we would never have been allowed to continue, but it didn't get as much coverage here… after that, we changed our name. Got rid of all our animals. And kind of laid low for a while. It was six months before we began doing any shows again."

And for those entire six months (and longer) Dick would awake at night, screaming from night terrors as his father and mother rushed to reassure him.

"I guess you could say tigers became something of a phobia for me. But, well, not one that came up very often." Dick shot Gar a slightly twisted smile. "At least, not until today."

Gar's head had been down for the second half of Dick's story. Now, at last, he lifted his eyes and Dick saw to his chagrin a bit of pain and guilt.

"Sorry, man, I had no idea…"

"Not your fault," Dick cut him off. "It was my idea to have everyone demonstrate their powers in the first place anyways, remember?"

Gar hunched his back in a way that was sure to give him back problems someday and idly steepled his fingers. "To be honest, man, I don't know anything about tigers…about my own power. But one thing I do know, when I become it, I'm, I mean, I'm still _me_…but I'm something else, too." He looked up at Dick, his dark eyes uncertain and seeking Dick's reassurance. "I'm the tiger, I guess. And what it wants, I want."

Dick let out a soft exhale. He could not honestly say that this didn't worry him. But looking at Gar's worry and earnestness Dick felt some reassurance. A tiger wouldn't feel such emotion as guilt. Nor would it fear things that weren't immediately before it. Those were emotions were purely human. What was sitting before him was a troubled teenage boy, not some beast. And besides, who knew better about fighting against your darker half than Dick Grayson?

He hesitated for only a split second before gently wrapping an arm around Gar's shoulder. Gar blinked, surprised, before slightly leaning into the embrace. Dick wasn't sure what to say, so he didn't say anything.

"Dick?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think I will ever…lose myself to it?"

Dick took his meaning. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "But you're not alone now, Gar. Rachel's fighting, Kory's fighting, and I'm fighting, too. We're gonna get this figured out."

"Yeah," Gar nodded, reanimating himself. "Yeah."

Another pause.

"And Dick?"

"Hmmm?"

"You don't have to keep everything to yourself. Same goes for you, man. We're all here for you…Rachel worries…we all worry about you, sometimes. Even Kory."

Dick blinked in astonishment. They didn't even know him…they had only just met. Yet Gar's words rang with sincerity. Dick was…he was touched.

"Thanks, Gar."

"Anytime."

Feeling the sentimentality of the moment made Dick uncomfortable. Life with Bruce had kept such moments to a bare minimum, as the only person who prepares handled such moments worse than Dick was the Batman himself.

"Now go on, get out of here, let me get some sleep." Dick gave Gar a playful shove.

Gar grinned, rising to his feet. "Sure thing, man." He started for the door, then went fumbling in his pockets.

"Uh, Dick? I left my room key in the other room."

"You _what_?"

Gar shot him a sheepish grin. "Can I stay here?"

Dick groaned and pulled the covers over his head.

"Fine, but you're sleeping on the floor."


End file.
